Keller school board likely violated law when it talked about split in secret, lawyers say
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Keller ISD controversy
Read our reporting on the possible plan to split Keller ISD into two districts.
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The Keller school board likely violated statutes in the Texas Open Meetings Act when it discussed a proposal to split the district in two during an executive session at its Dec. 19 meeting, according to lawyers consulted by the Star-Telegram.
Keller school board Secretary Joni Shaw Smith and Trustee Chelsea Kelly said in statements posted to social media on Jan. 8 that they first heard of the proposal in a portion of the Dec. 19 school board meeting that was closed to the public.
An issue like splitting a district in two represents a special interest to the public, and thus the public should have been informed of its discussion during the closed meeting, according to Bill Aleshire, an Austin-based attorney with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
“Because of the special interest to the public in whether or not to split the district, they’re required to be specific in their meeting notice anytime they discuss that topic,” Aleshire said. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s going to be discussed in executive session or not.”
The Texas Attorney General’s Open Meetings Act Handbook cites a 1986 case in the state Supreme Court that found the Austin ISD Board of Trustees did not give sufficient public notice for the selection of a new superintendent. The board had cited general topics like “litigation” and “personnel” to call an executive session to discuss the matter.
“The Court noted that the selection of a new superintendent was not in the same category as ordinary personnel matters, because it is a matter of special interest to the public; thus, the use of the term ‘personnel’ was not sufficient to apprise the general public of the board’s proposed selection of a new superintendent,” the handbook reads. “The Court also noted that ‘litigation’ would not sufficiently describe a major desegregation suit that had occupied the district’s time for a number of years.”
Merely listing the statutes that except certain topics from discussion in an open meeting is not sufficient in this case either, Aleshire said.
“You cannot just post the exceptions under the act as the notice to the public,” he said. “They’ve got to have the subject, the agenda item, on their meeting notice.”
Fort Worth Attorney Ken Sparks concurred with Aleshire, saying the detachment and creation of a new school district “obviously” constitutes sufficient special public interest to be treated in the same way as the examples in the case law.
“The statute has limited reasons to close a meeting for consultation with an attorney, and that’s got to be addressed,” said Sparks, who served as County and District Attorney in Colorado County and advised that county’s Commissioners Court on the Open Meetings Act for over a decade. Sparks also served as school board president at the Wiemar school district, also in Colorado County.
Keller school board president Charles Randklev did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Board members did not respond to emails seeking a request for comment.
A district spokesperson did not respond to questions about the board’s potential violation of the Open Meetings Act.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a voicemail left on its Open Government Hotline.
Aleshire expressed dismay at how this process has played out over the last week.
“I’m amazed to hear they have an attorney with the blatant violations of the Open Meetings Act that are occurring,” he said.
The Keller school board is represented by Fort Worth attorney Tim Davis. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Violating the Open Meetings Act is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail.
Charges would have to be filed by the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office after being notified by the public, Sparks said. There is no formal complaint process for Open Meetings Act violations, he said.
A spokesperson for the office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shaw Smith and Kelly, the Keller school board trustees, called for more transparency in the process in their posts to social media last week.
“I am not ok with this. I am not ok with the way this has been rolled out or that our community has had no input on this idea,” wrote Kelly.
“It is our sincere hope that the Board will pause this process and establish an orderly, transparent approach that prioritizes collaboration, community input, and careful consideration before any final decision is made,” wrote Shaw Smith.
Fort Worth City council member Charles Lauersdorf, who confirmed to the Star-Telegram that a Keller board member told him about the plan to split the district, made a similar plea for more transparency.
Lauersdorf declined to name the school board member, citing private aspects of the conversation. Before that conversation, Lauersdorf said no Keller school district officials had reached out to him or the city of Fort Worth.
The board didn’t want to disclose the plan publicly, because it is not going to make any decisions and members didn’t want to create a public outcry before discussing it, Lauersdorf said. Parents said in social media posts that they believe the new Alliance school district would be west of U.S. 377.
“You would hope the school board would actually involve the city of Fort Worth, and say ‘This is what we’re thinking, nothing’s set in stone,” Lauersdorf told the Star-Telegram on Jan. 8. “Apparently, it looks like Keller ISD’s strategy is a strategy of ambiguity, which I believe only works in our relationship with China.”
Elizabeth Campbell contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 11:11 AM.
